Box for Shabties
Description
Object Label: The box inscribed for a priest named Ankhef[en]khons once contained small figurines, known as shabties. These figurines (on view in the nearby gallery) were intended to perform tasks for the deceased in the afterlife. Because the number of shabties in a tomb could reach into the hundreds, the figurines were commonly deposited in shrine-shaped containers, such as this one. Caption: Box for Shabties, ca. 1075–656 B.C.E.. Wood, pigment , 16 7/8 x 20 3/8 x 13 in. (42.8 x 51.7 x 33 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.1524E. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)
AI image analysis GPT-5.4-nano
Machine-generated from the object's image on Jul 2026. Not curatorial; treat deities, names, and signs below as the model's best reading, not authority.
A rectangular, lidded wooden box with a weathered exterior painted in dark pigments and decorated with a dense rectangular panel of hieroglyphic text.
The image shows the back/side of a small-to-medium box with a raised, hinged or fitted lid. The wood surface is worn and scuffed, with small dark specks and losses consistent with age. A large, rectangular painted panel is centered on the front face, containing tightly packed Egyptian hieroglyphs rendered in dark blue/black pigment with lighter outlines. The panel is enclosed by framing lines and includes multiple vertical and horizontal signs; individual sign legibility is limited by wear and low contrast, so exact readings cannot be securely transcribed. No clear cartouches are visible at this resolution. The interior contents are not clearly identifiable, though the lid is shown with pale objects that could be packing material or lining. No Greek, Coptic, or Arabic text is visible.
Cross-references (2)
- BKM-Accession 37.1524E tier-2
- BKM-Object 118052 tier-2
About this record's data
- From the source institution — accession, description, dimensions, and dating are as catalogued by Brooklyn Museum — Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art.
- AI-inferred — the image-analysis panel (deities, names, signs) is machine-generated and may be wrong.
- Approximate location — most map points are plotted at the site centroid, not the exact findspot.
- Inferred links — cross-references marked with a match method other than explicit-source-field were matched by us, not stated by the source.